Hi
AMARYLLIS is a mystry to me. It will do what it decides to do.
Last year my CHRISMA became dorment a month later it sterted to grow when the scape and a leaf were an inch long it again became dorment and remained so for about three months.The bloom was normal and the leaves are growing well.
ARIF

Hi Crazy ,I think you would be CRAZY to mess with the growing cycle of any South African amaryllid ,what species have you purchased?
I grow Brunsvigia,Scadoxus,Crinum,Haemanthus,Clivia,Boophane to name a few ,the climatic conditions here in Western Australia are very similar to South Africa.

Stephen -- In answer to your post, the cultivars are Joker, Honeymoon, Merry Christmas, Candy Floss, and Carnival. DonÂt know if that makes any difference . . . .

Soulton -- In answer to your email, all were purchased at Johnscheepers.com, and were listed under the "Christmas Flowering Single" (all except Joker) or "Christmas Flowering Miniature" (Joker) links. I guess I donÂt know for certain whether all are truly African hybrids, but OckengaÂs books indicates that both Merry Christmas and Candy Floss are. (I donÂt have ReadÂs book, and Ockenga makes no mention of my other varieties.) I too have looked for a specific distributor of South African bulbs, and IÂve been all over the Hadeco web site to no avail. If you compare all the good web companies (which have been listed in this forum at one point or another), you can nevertheless get a reasonable selection.

-Crazy

Hello,
I have managed to get some of the SA varieties you have mentioned this year. I have merry Christmas with very very large buds appearing at a vast rate of knots. I have potted them and watered them once, I usually leave them alone to get on with it now.I have other bulbs which I did this to last year and they grew nice and slow.
Which SA bulbs are you looking for? Is it just Hippeastrum or other amaryllids? E-mail me and I maybe able to put you in contact with someone who may well be able to help you out.

Hey Crazy! Yes all that you purchased are South African Hybrids. I just ordered from that company too and all amaryllises under the "Christmas Flowering" categories are South African. This is my first time with SA amaryllises and ordered the double flowering ones first; Snow White, Razzmatazz, Ragtime, Rozetta, Joker (miniature), and Alfresco(miniature). If they perform good, I might get the single ones too. I can't wait till they arrive. Did you get clean (firm with no red markings)and right sized bulbs? Roots?

Hi, Mariava.

I also ordered the collection of double-flowering Amaryllis from Scheepers. Apparently theyÂll be arriving in a few weeks, since IÂve got some Dutch hybrids in the same shipment.

All the bulbs were healthy: good sized (Joker was a bit smaller, since heÂs a mini) no major red markings, nice bundle of roots. My only complaint would be that most had broken dormancy, and IÂd like to store them a bit longer before planting.

-Crazy

Hi crazyforcorelli,
You can slow them down by holding them at cooler temps.It wont stop them completely but it should give you a chance to stagger your bloom time a bit. Try to give them a consistant 50-52F,not an easy thing to do. The crisper in your fridge is too cold but an unheated basement or rootcellar would work.
One of the main advatages of the South African hippies is that they have a shorter time to bloom once they break dormancy. It's considered a plus for sellers of potted plants as there insin't as much bench time. I think perhaps the bulbs are not being kept as cool as they need to be before they are shipped and the quick growth pattern is catching the retailers offguard. Lora

Ah ha!
You can hold them at 48f for 10 days to stop the growth.....I'll link the info below. Lora

Here is a link that might be useful: Hadeco growers tips

Crazy ,I was on the wrong wave length with South African bulbs with scadoxus etc.

I do grow Candy floss and Carnival and around 50 other cultivars,I have found that delaying and or forcing hippeastrum has a long term effect on the growth and seed producing of the bulbs.
Candy floss and Carnival have produced some wonderful hybrids for me the best being crosses with White Christmas and Wedding dance .
good luck with your bulbs.

Stephen

I'd add to what lora was saying:

Since commercially available Hippeastrum bulbs have been stored cool prior to shipping, they are rested and ready to bloom. Between the last point of storage and you or the final distributor, the temps may not be regulated much, so any warmth is going to induce scape elongation. I can't comment on how they are kept while in transit on a plane or boat, so unless the carrier has a refrigeration system, they may be subjected to a variety of temps.

My local retail garden center doesn't store them in a cooler environment at all. They are kept at room temperature all the time while awaiting sale. Many, if not most, have the scape emerging and many bulbs bloom while in the bins. These are Dutch bulbs, though, not African, but the process is the same.

Hi,

I have found that you can still stagger them a bit by keeping them in the dark and not planting them, but you really do have to keep an eye out for the 'more than the tip' of the bloom showing.

If you delay too long, you chance the bud being deformed or aborting. When you see the thicker portion of the bud, you definitely do need to pot it up and give it some water.

I have purchased some at discount at the end of the season. Some had deformed blooms, but to my surprise, many of those produced a second bloom. Some had not bloomed at all yet. Those were Minerva and Red Lion. HD had them for $1, so I bought lots.

As you can tell by my zone, they grow in the gardens here, but despite a large collection, I still tend to bring most of them into an enclosed porch and patio area and enjoy the ones that decide to bloom during the winter months.

I keep them outside as long as possible. Our first frost is often Thanksgiving week, and I'm scrambling to start bringing them inside. Some I cover with a blanket and do not bring in until later. As long as they are protected, the leaves do not totally melt (some are tinged). This tends to prolong the time until they bloom.

By Christmas time, we usually have another hard frost/freeze and those that are indoor bound are inside for the rest of the winter.

Most bloom inside, except for the Johnsonii which are in the garden. Johnsonii bloom after the last frost which is normally mid March or April 1.

I think that you will find that the bloom time is not precise, so you most likely will get staggered blooms. Some blooms will last longer than others. Some will produce a second set of blooms.

Good Luck and enjoy! I don't think I have 50 varieties, but I have many. Most are hybrids. Many are doubled. I have just started collecting diploids this past year and hope to purchase more this year.

News.
I got the package from John Scheepers as well with the 10 South African Bulbs, and I found a few varieties in my local garden stores... It seems like that Gold Medal and Alfresco are in a race which one will bloom first. Alfresco was sleeping for a while, and let Gold Medal grow and build the flower scape and now it just started growing like crazy. It had the second bud emerging and to my great surprise, the firt flower is not even open yet, but the third bud is emerging from the bulb now... I could bet now that Alfresco will win the race and he will be my first bloom this year. Gold Medal probably will get the siler medal, and it seems like - judging from the developments - that Benfica will be getting the bronze... What a race...

Just want to make sure guys, that you know, that when you buy Gold Medal, the flower will not look like the one on the little name tag they provide with the bulb. The flower is actually quite triangular, and orange-ish, with a very mild white stroke at the throat, similar to Amigo. I have written to Hadeco and showed them my pictures. They said, mine was a Gold medal and their name tags were printed too red. Indeed. It is a beautiful flower, but it is not the kind you see on the printed label. It doesn't even look like the picture on the web site. I don't want to seem too ungrateful, but this variety is almost like Orange Souvereign. I don't see much difference. Nice flower, but why did they have to give it another name?
Here is a picture of it:
{{gwi:428655}}

At our local garden center, the picture for 'Ruby Meyer'is completely wrong, not even close. The bulbs are from Langeveld.

Hope what I have is like the name, not like the picture!

Robert.

Post a picture and we can compare.

I'm sure when it blooms, all will be known. It's still being held in dormancy, so it may be a while before I'll know.

Robert.

:o) I meant post the picture of the Langeveld identifier that was attached to the bulb.
I just went to OSH, and saw beautiful, HUGE Apple Blossom Bulbs. I have Apple blossom already, but these bulbs were so huge, and had so many offsets, I had to buy one... I bought one with at least 6 attached offsets...
And Lowe's will give back the money for the broken wine cooler, so I will go and buy a better one, and one that has more space. I guess a 46 bottle cooler is not enough for 150 bulbs or so.

Once my Trentino Amaryllis is finished blooming and it becomes dormant, is there any special way I should store the bulbs?

But is has not gone dormant yet, right? It should still thrive and prepare for next year's flowers from now on till next fall if you keep it posted or you should plant it out once minimal temperatures rise above around 40F. If it went dormant already right after flowering, something might not be right.